Southampton's Hassan Kachloul was yesterday charged with misconduct by the Football Association after his sending-off against Leeds.

An FA spokesman said the Moroccan international had been charged "due to violent and threatening behaviour towards Lee Bowyer during the Premier League fixture on December 16th.

"This follows a recommendation by representatives of the video advisory panel after the referee Paul Durkin requested the FA review video evidence of the closing stages of the game."

Kachloul, who has 14 days to respond to the charge, was booked twice in the space of three minutes late in the game, won 1-0 by Southampton at The Dell.

The first booking was for throwing the ball away and dissent at a free-kick and the Saints midfielder received his second yellow for grabbing Bowyer round the throat in the mass melee sparked by a clash between Leeds' Alan Smith and Southampton substitute Mark Draper.

Kachloul then appeared to aim a head-butt at Bowyer and lash out with his elbow as he left the pitch and his manager Glenn Hoddle admitted he would be punished by the club.

"Hassan will be dealt with severely," Hoddle said at the time. Kachloul will be suspended for Southampton's game at Coventry on Friday night and could face another three-match ban if found guilty.

Barnsley have "reluctantly" parted company with manager Dave Bassett.

The Londoner guided the club to the Division One play-off final at Wembley last season, where the Tykes were beaten to promotion by Ipswich, but was unable to build on that this term.

Barnsley are currently 14th in the table following Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Stockport, and chief coach Eric Winstanley has taken temporary charge of first-team matters.

A statement from the Yorkshire club read: "Following a long discussion about the way forward for Barnsley Football Club and David Bassett, the board of directors have reluctantly agreed with David that there be a parting of the ways."

Manchester United defender Jaap Stam will return to action during the first week of the new year after missing four months with an Achilles injury.

The Dutch international underwent surgery to cure a long-standing problem caused by wear and tear.

"I will probably slot him into a reserve match at the end of the first week in January and see how it goes from there," said manager Alex Ferguson. Ferguson said England striker Andy Cole would also play within two weeks after a similar Achilles operation.

The European Commission will hold a third meeting inside a month with representatives of the football world to thrash out an agreement on the future of the transfer system with both sides keen to stress their wish to reach a consensus.

"There is evident goodwill among the different parties," was the official Commission view yesterday - but the players' union FIFPro warned that they believe "the negotiations are not moving forward," a view which is being viewed with some alarm by UEFA director general Gerard Aigner.

Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira has declared he will never return to play for an Italian club because of the "intolerable atmosphere of racism".

The former AC Milan midfielder, who never truly made his mark in Italy before moving to Highbury in 1996, has no intention of quitting Arsenal.

FIFA chief Sepp Blatter has added his voice to the chorus of praise for West Ham's Italian striker Paolo di Canio following his exceptional act of sportsmanship in an English Premiership match at the weekend.

"Gestures like this are all too rare in football especially at the professional level," Blatter wrote in a letter to the player.

Aston Villa yesterday finally abandoned hopes of signing manager John Gregory's number one target Benni McCarthy from Celta Vigo.

But the midlands club are expected to now step up their efforts to sign Colombian Juan Pablo Angel.

Meanwhile, chairman Doug Ellis remains hopeful that he can persuade David James to sign a new deal at Villa Park, despite the keeper's latest outburst. The former Liverpool player has hit out at Villa for leaking his request to go on the transfer list the day before Saturday's home clash with Manchester City.

He believes that contributed to the hostile atmosphere in the ground which was directed chiefly by supporters at Ellis.

First Division promotion contenders Birmingham City have made an undisclosed bid for the Celtic striker Mark Burchill after he completed a three-month loan spell at St Andrew's.

The Scottish international made his final loan appearance for the club in last Sunday's 1-0 win at Wolves, setting up Dele Adebola for the only goal.